Books have been my refuge for as long as I can remember and, besides friends & family, they are what I am most grateful for in this world. I genuinely would not be the person I am today without reading, so this post is a dedication to all of those books that have shaped me, comforted me, and inspired me throughout life. ❤

Also, I just want to note that these aren’t necessarily my all time favorite books (although a few certainly are), but one’s that have impacted me the most or that I appreciate for various reasons!

Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan

Even though I’ve always been a reader, this was the series that truly cemented my love for books as a kid. And I could not be more grateful for that! These books mean the world to me and I’ll honestly never get over how good they are.

Harry Potter by JK Rowling

Of course this post would not be complete without mentioning my all time favorite series. I’m forever thankful we live in a world where Harry Potter exists and it’s something that so many of us love dearly.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Along with Twilight, this series was my first introduction to YA fiction when I was in middle school! Discovering YA was one of the most monumental moments in my life and they’re still my favorites types of books to read to this day. 🙂 And The Hunger Games brings back so many memories!

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I don’t necessarily consider these to be all time favorites, but I had to include this series on this list because it got me out of the longest reading slump of my LIFE! Honestly, I’m talking years. After I discovered these, it inspired me to start reading again and I’m so very thankful for that.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

This was the first book I ever truly related to and it inspired me to be unashamedly myself in high school. I always tried to hide just how much I was in to books, but Cath taught me that there was no reason to do that! PLUS, this book introduced me to Simon & Baz, which then lead me to read Carry On – literally one of my favorite books in existence.

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

These books! Agh. I don’t have any idea how to express how thankful I am that The Mortal Instruments was what introduced me to the Shadowhunter Chronicles. Even though this series has it’s ups and downs, I still cherish it. I’m currently reading Lady Midnight and I keep getting emotional thinking about how I’ve grown up with Clary!

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I always find myself returning to this book because of how comforting and beautiful and lovely it is. It’s simply one of the most peaceful and wholesome books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and I just love it with my whole heart. ❤

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesa Zappia

I have to preface this by saying I no longer think this book is 5 star worthy because of some poor handling of mental health issues (mostly because of Wallace – ugh). But this book did inspire me in one very important way: it was one of the reasons I was inspired to finally make a blog. 🙂

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

If this list were in order, this would be the number one book I’m thankful for. And that is because it encouraged me to seek therapy for the first time in my life after years of struggling with mental illness. I honestly might not have sought out help when I needed it the most if I hadn’t read it when I did. So much love for this!

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

I don’t think I will ever stop talking about how much I love this book, but you guys, I I just REALLY LOVE THIS BOOK. From the diversity, the mental health rep, the discussions of academic pressure – it’s perfect and I appreciate it more than words could ever say!

And that’s it! Honestly making this list was so difficult because I’m thankful for too many books, but these have been the one’s to make the greatest impact on me and I wanted to give them some love.

I hope you guys have been having a great week and, if you celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

And one more thing – if you missed my post from yesterday, I wanted to let you know that I have some changes coming to my blog soon. I’m doing some rebranding, including a name and design change! If you want to find out more about what this all entails, you can click here. 🙂 Have a happy Tuesday!

YES YES YES I loved seeing Harry Potter and Percy Jackson on here!🙌🏼A lot of other books you mentioned are ones I want to read really badly- Eliza and Her Monsters, and History is All You Left Me. Great post, and happy early Thanksgiving!

Ahhh I adore this post, Brianna! You named so many wonderful and important books. 😭💓 The PJO/HOO series also mean the world to me and they’ll always be close to my heart. I’m so thankful for these books for being the first series I fell in love with, and for showing me the power of diversity & representation. 😍 I really loved The Hunger Games series, back in middle school. They were one of the first YA book series I read, too.

Omg I’m so glad History Is All You Left Me encouraged you to seek out therapy, and I’m so proud of you for taking that first step ❤️ Oh and I loved Radio Silence too!! I kinda want to reread it now because it’s been a while since I read it, and I’ve forgotten a lot of it. 😅 Great post, Brianna! Really enjoyed reading about the books that mean a lot to you 💞

Dezzy!! thank you! Omg yes I just treasure PJO so much😭 I still haven’t read HOO yet (this needs to be changed immediately) but I’m already so, so thankful for the amount of diversity & representation in it💗

Ahhh History Is All You Left Me truly impacted me more than any other book ever has! I read it right when I needed it and I just love it with my entire being. Also yes Radio Silence is TOO GOOD! lol same, I already want to reread and I only just read it a couple months ago hehe.

Thanks for all these kind words & for being such a great friend Dezzy!! I appreciate it so much☺️

This post is beautiful ❤️ I totally understand what you mean. I don’t understand people who don’t like reading. With those people, I feel they must just not like reading words in general. Because there is a book out there for everyone. You just need to find your own niche genre and style of writing and story-type.

Books have definitely changed my lives. They’re so incredibly and completely powerful, insightful, and just BEAUTIFUL! They’ve given me so much insight into other people’s lives, and thus made me such a more wiser person (not that I’m anywhere near wise lol) than I feel like I would’ve been if I hadn’t read any of the books I have now.

I know I can never do a post like this though, because I know I’d end up missing out some kind of book. These posts are very hard to make. Maybe I’ll try to make one in ten years 🙂

Thank you so much for this very sweet comment !! I totally agree; it always baffles me when I realize there are people who don’t enjoy reading. They are missing out big time!

And awh I’m so glad to hear how much books have made an impact on your life as well! They are truly a gift to this world. The insight and comfort I’ve gained from books is something I’m so thankful for, and it makes me happy there are others out there who appreciate reading just as much as I do❤️

Lol – this post was definitely a difficult one to make! I felt terrible for some books I had to leave out. I would totally love to see your own answers to a post like this, but it’s understandable that it feels impossible to do it😂 there are just way too many good books out there!

I see HP, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and Shatter Me, I hit like and leave a comment. I’m thankful for these series as well because before I shifted into romance books, I wouldn’t be blogging and sharing my love for books (and many more of them) if it weren’t for the Young Adult Literature. Awesome list, Bri! 🙂